[openbeos] Re: Site Audit

> I feel including the sources in the same Zip file as the binary is 
> the best thing.
> It maybe a bit more time consuming, but there are not many people
> likely to want the source files. Having the source files inside say 
> a highly compressed .7z file in the top directory of the .zip file
> would not make any clutter at all, in fact reduce clutter for the
> guys at haikuware.

Well, that depends on the application, but many BeOS authors have
very high standards of presentation -- something that's distinctly
different to the situation on certain other OSs.

I don't take anywhere near as much time and effort over presentation
as some BeOS authors do, but even so I prefer to keep the first thing
the user sees when expanding the Zip as clean as possible: after all,
this is the BeOS / Haiku version of an installer! For example:

http://knothole.no-ip.org/Inside%20zip

Another example, where the layout is used to instruct the user:

http://knothole.no-ip.org/Inside%20zip%202

Apologies for not posting examples of third-party applications, but
I already have those installed (so the folders have been moved and
messed around with since). However, I've definitely seen better
examples of presentation: those who are more artistically talented
or with more complex applications need (and do) take far more care.

Having a zip file added at some seemingly-random visual position
inside the folder could be quite messy! And as you say, who's going
to need the source anyway?

Of course if the original authors could be asked, and they
specifically gave permission to have their original Zip files
modified, then that's another matter entirely.


I'm sure someone else will bring up the matter of file size and
modem users eventually (either pre- or post-publishing), so I won't
even go there. Suffice to say I'm not much of an advocate of
modifying people's files without permission: copying them, sure --
I think copyright law needs to be amended to protect cases like
this -- but modifying could get into the sticky realm of
misrepresentation. Not to mention a possible breach of contract in
the license agreement!

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